As soon as the news of the latest and faclifted version of the Micra was released straight from the Oragadam,chennai plant of Nissan India, our expert team decided to make a quick test-trip to the area and found no other place better then the Chennai and its outskirts itself, to test this beautifully treated new version 2.0 of the car in this monsoon.
And as soon as our experts pushed the start button of this car, they knew they are here for some serious job for us to write about and for you to read and judge upon. The interrogation sessions with car went well and the observations are as follows.
PROS-
The car has not changed much from its earlier version and identical underpinnings are same as the earlier car with an addition facial work all around the car’s front and back end including new swept back headlamps, more pronounced bonnet creases, aggressive and effective front air dam, and tail-lamps LED treatment along with a more sporty tailgate with lower lip design, which surely puts an end to its cheeky silhouette and makes it look more manly and considerable.
Apart from the looks department, this car gains a lot of respect for the work which has been carried out by Nissan team to upgrade its interiors and instruments, making it look more young, relaxed, easy and solid.
The space is same as before which calls for a positive approach with enough legroom and cubbyholes and the suspension, again same as before adds more comfort to the car’s overall lazy department.
Thing which our experts like the most was the city ride quality while they stretched the car around the lanes of Chennai, thanks to the new CVT box for added refinement in overall smoothness of the previous and un-changed engine. And after testing it for hours, they knew that the engine might be the older one, but some work has been surely done upon it to regain that smoothness, like the improved NVH levels, even with the manual 5-speed gearing and in the diesel variant too.
CONS-
This car is a whole new, but identically old, variant of the earlier Micra and the improved looks gain, both positive and negative feedbacks to this car, individual taste differs you see!
But what remains a laidback and un-updated flaw in this car is the untuned sync between the diesel and petrol engines, as quoted by our test driver who further reports-
The petrol engine can be revved hard and is strong in its mid-and-high-range performance, but is weak in bottom end though plus gets a bit noisy when pushed a bit more then the efficient driving levels
On the other hand, the diesel engine is quite linear in its power delivery and driving in the city is a breeze, thanks to the availability of power from as low as 1500 rpm.
Basically, the car’s overall performance is adequate but its not a car which pleases you well on your high-speed highway rides which was tested on the already smooth highways adjoining Chennai and its outer cities. Blame for which goes to the laggings of the steering which provides a poor feedback on higher speeds and its suspension setup which was on the softer sides, resulting in a fair bit of body roll.
Adding more of the expert views, they say-
The Micra was never a car that you would want to drive after witnessing an exciting, adrenaline-pumping GP race. It was more an everyday car that concentrated mainly on getting you from point A to point B without much drama. And it feels good to drive at lower speeds, but as things start moving in the fast lane, the Micra begins to lose its composure. Sounds a bit harsh but factual, isn’t it?
END VERDICT-
Both thumbs up for the new looks, features list, the added CVT box and added feather to its cap. But on handling and dynamics, the Micra still has some catching up to do with the other hatches to refrain that charisma it currently lacks.
Go test drive one soon if you want a car for your daily runs, it will never dissappoint you on that, that’s about it!
